Kaleidoscope : illuminating learning and teaching evaluation for a shared stakeholder lens

Within the Australian higher education sector, institutions are required to evaluate teaching, units and courses to assure the quality of the student learning experience, however with hardly any regulatory parameters guiding institutions, and with disparate practices, there are few opportunities to benchmakr across institutions or the sector. QUT has received interest and requests from national and international universities on accessing Reframe: QUT's Evaluation Framework.

Providing 'best practice' placements begins with mentoring skills : overview of the Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) quality improvement initiatives for mentors

Objectives PEPA is funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and aims to further improve the skill and confidence of the generalist workforce to work with people with palliative care needs. Recent quality improvement initiatives to promote transfer of learning into practice include appointment of a clinical educator, implementation of an online module for mentors and delivery of a mentoring workshop (collaborating with NSAP and PCC4U). This paper presents an overview of outcomes from these quality improvement initiatives. Methods PEPA host sites are selected based on their specialist palliative care level. Host site managers are surveyed six-monthly and participants are surveyed pre and three months post-placement to collect open and fixed response data on their experience of the program. Participants in the mentoring workshop (n=39) were asked to respond to a survey regarding the workshop outcomes. Results The percentage of placement participants who strongly agreed they ‘have the ability to implement the interventions required for people who have a life-limiting illness’ increased from 35% in 2011 (n=34) to 51% in 2012 (n=91) post-placement. Responses from mentor workshop participants indicated that 76% of respondents (n=25) agreed that they were able to identify principles for mentoring in the context of palliative care. In 2012, 61% of host site managers (n=54) strongly agreed that PEPA supports clinician working with people with a life-limiting illness. Conclusion Strategies to build the capabilities of palliative care professionals to mentor and support the learning experience of PEPA participants are critical to ongoing improvements of the program.

E-motion diaries : blogging emotional responses to online learning in higher education

Emotions are inherently social, and are central to learning, online interaction and literacy practices (Shen, Wang, & Shen, 2009). Demonstrating the dynamic sociality of literacy practice, we used e-motion diaries or web logs to explore the emotional states of pre-service high school teachers’ experiences of online learning activities. This is because the methods of communication used by university educators in online learning and writing environments play an important role in fulfilling students’ need for social interaction and inclusion (McInnerney & Roberts, 2004). Feelings of isolation and frustration are common emotions experienced by students in many online learning environments, and are associated with the success or failure of online interactions and learning (Su, et al., 2005). The purpose of the study was to answer the research question: What are the trajectories of pre-service teachers’ emotional states during online learning experiences? This is important because emotions are central to learning, and the current trend toward Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) needs research about students’ emotional connections in online learning environments (Kop, 2011). The project was conducted with a graduate class of 64 high school science pre-service teachers in Science Education Curriculum Studies in a large Australian university, including males and females from a variety of cultural backgrounds, aged 22-55 years. Online activities involved the students watching a series of streamed live lectures for the first 5 weeks providing a varied set of learning experiences, such as viewing science demonstrations (e.g., modeling the use of discrepant events). Each week, students provided feedback on learning by writing and posting an e-motion diary or web log about their emotional response. Students answered the question: What emotions did you experience during this learning experience? The descriptive data set included 284 online posts, with students contributing multiple entries. Linguistic appraisal theory, following Martin and White (2005), was used to regroup the 22 different discrete emotions reported by students into the six main affect groups – three positive and three negative: unhappiness/happiness, insecurity/security, and dissatisfaction/satisfaction. The findings demonstrated that the pre-service teachers’ emotional responses to the streamed lectures tended towards happiness, security, and satisfaction within the typology of affect groups – un/happiness, in/security, and dis/satisfaction. Fewer students reported that the streamed lectures triggered negative feelings of frustration, powerlessness, and inadequacy, and when this occurred, it often pertained to expectations of themselves in the forthcoming field experience in classrooms. Exceptions to this pattern of responses occurred in relation to the fifth streamed lecture presented in a non-interactive slideshow format that compressed a large amount of content. Many students responded to the content of the lecture rather than providing their emotional responses to this lecture, and one student felt “completely disengaged”. The social practice of online writing as blogs enabled the students to articulate their emotions. The findings primarily contribute new understanding about students' wide range of differing emotional states, both positive and negative, experienced in response to streamed live lectures and other learning activities in higher education external coursework. The is important because the majority of previous studies have focused on particular negative emotions, such as anxiety in test taking. The research also highlights the potentials of appraisal theory for studying human emotions in online learning and writing.

Entrepreneurship education in non-business schools : best practice for Australian contexts of knowledge and innovation communities (Final Report)

In the current era of global economic instability, business and industry have already identified a widening gap between graduate skills and employability. An important element of this is the lack of entrepreneurial skills in graduates. This Teaching Fellowship investigated two sides of a story about entrepreneurial skills and their teaching. Senior players in the innovation commercialisation industry, a high profile entrepreneurial sector, were surveyed to gauge their needs and experiences of graduates they employ. International contexts of entrepreneurship education were investigated to explore how their teaching programs impart the skills of entrepreneurship. Such knowledge is an essential for the design of education programs that can deliver the entrepreneurial skills deemed important by industry for future sustainability. Two programs of entrepreneurship education are being implemented at QUT that draw on the best practice exemplars investigated during this Fellowship. The QUT Innovation Space (QIS) focuses on capturing the innovation and creativity of students, staff and others. The QIS is a physical and virtual meeting and networking space; a connected community enhancing the engagement of participants. The Q_Hatchery is still embryonic; but it is intended to be an innovation community that brings together nascent entrepreneurial businesses to collaborate, train and support each other. There is a niche between concept product and business incubator where an experiential learning environment for otherwise isolated ‘garage-at-home’ businesses could improve success rates. The QIS and the Q_Hatchery serve as living research laboratories to trial the concepts emerging from the skills survey. The survey of skills requirements of the innovation commercialisation industry has produced a large and high quality data set still being explored. Work experience as an employability factor has already emerged as an industry requirement that provides employee maturity. Exploratory factor analysis of the skills topics surveyed has led to a process-based conceptual model for teaching and learning higher-order entrepreneurial skills. Two foundational skills domains (Knowledge, Awareness) are proposed as prerequisites which allow individuals with a suite of early stage entrepreneurial and behavioural skills (Pre-leadership) to further leverage their careers into a leadership role in industry with development of skills around higher order elements of entrepreneurship, management in new business ventures and progressing winning technologies to market. The next stage of the analysis is to test the proposed model through structured equation modelling. Another factor that emerged quickly from the survey analysis broadens the generic concept of team skills currently voiced in Australian policy documents discussing the employability agenda. While there was recognition of the role of sharing, creating and using knowledge in a team-based interdisciplinary context, the adoption and adaptation of behaviours and attitudes of other team members of different disciplinary backgrounds (interprofessionalism) featured as an issue. Most undergraduates are taught and undertake teamwork in silos and, thus, seldom experience a true real-world interdisciplinary environment. Enhancing the entrepreneurial capacity of Australian industry is essential for the economic health of the country and can only be achieved by addressing the lack of entrepreneurial skills in graduates from the higher education system. This Fellowship has attempted to address this deficiency by identifying the skills requirements and providing frameworks for their teaching.

More than puppets : curriculum collections in Australian universities

This article reports a survey that sought to capture a contemporary snapshot of curriculum collections in Australian universities. It highlights best practice and issues in collection organisation, development and access, the challenges facing these collections, and possible future directions. Many themes emerged, including: the need to make spaces a vibrant part of the teaching and learning environment; the need to integrate print and digital collections to raise students’ awareness and use of resources; the need to demonstrate a link between collections and services and the students’ learning experience; the difficulties resulting from reduced budgets; and the need to actively engage academics.

Experiencing information use for early career academics’ learning: A knowledge ecosystem model

Purpose This study explores the informed learning experiences of early career academics while building their networks for professional and personal development. The notion that information and learning are inextricably linked via the concept of ‘informed learning’ is used as a conceptual framework to gain a clearer picture of what informs early career academics while they learn and how they experience using that which informs their learning within this complex practice: to build, maintain and utilise their developmental networks. Methodology This research employs a qualitative framework using a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006). Through semi-structured interviews with a sample of fourteen early career academics from across two Australian universities, data were generated to investigate the research questions. The study used the methods of constant comparison to create codes and categories towards theme development. Further examination considered the relationship between thematic categories to construct an original theoretical model. Findings The model presented is a ‘knowledge ecosystem’, which represents the core informed learning experience. The model consists of informal learning interactions such as relating to information to create knowledge and engaging in mutually supportive relationships with a variety of knowledge resources found in people who assist in early career development. Originality/Value Findings from this study present an alternative interpretation of informed learning that is focused on processes manifesting as human interactions with informing entities revolving around the contexts of reciprocal human relationships.

Learning Chinese as a Heritage Language: An Australian Perspective

Summary: This book explores the fascinating topic of heritage language learning, looking in particular at Chinese Australians' learning of Chinese. The author studies the investment, challenges and benefits of heritage language learning across varied contexts including school, work, home and in the community. The book investigates how Chinese Australians navigate and negotiate their Chineseness and how resources are used to support their learning. The book is based on a mixed methods study which uses Bourdieu's sociological theory, and offers implications for sociologists of language and education, Chinese heritage language learners and teachers, as well as language and cultural policy makers. Review: This book is a compelling account of the habitus of Chineseness in a world of mobility. It offers up a plethora of insights into the implication of heritage language learning in the constitution of Chinese identity; it makes available a sophisticated mixed methods approach for using the thinking tools of Pierre Bourdieu; it adds to these tools a nuanced cultural dimension. Karen Dooley, Queensland University of Technology, Australia In our increasingly trans-migratory world, language can be central to cultural identity. Dr Mu’s research breaks new ground by adapting Bourdieu’s insights to examine how cultural identity (‘Chinese-ness’) is linguistically learned and practiced in Australia. His remarkable book will interest educators and researchers grappling with how language pertains to identity. Tom Strong, University of Calgary, Canada A thought-provoking, highly engaging work that has deftly shown how Bourdieusian framework can be applied in the research field of literacy education and Heritage Language learning. A must-read for those interested in overseas Chinese communities and Heritage Language learning across various immigrant communities in general! Liang Du, Beijing Normal University, China

The application of learning analytics to improve learning: Questions from the academy

Since 2007, close collaboration between the Learning and Teaching Unit’s Academic Quality and Standards team and the Department of Reporting and Analysis’ Business Objects team resulted in a generational approach to reporting where QUT established a place of trust. This place of trust is where data owners are confident in date storage, data integrity, reported and shared. While the role of the Department of Reporting and Analysis focused on the data warehouse, data security and publication of reports, the Academic Quality and Standards team focused on the application of learning analytics to solve academic research questions and improve student learning. Addressing questions such as: • Are all students who leave course ABC academically challenged? • Do the students who leave course XYZ stay within the faculty, university or leave? • When students withdraw from a unit do they stay enrolled on full or part load or leave? • If students enter through a particular pathway, what is their experience in comparison to other pathways? • With five years historic reporting, can a two-year predictive forecast provide any insight? In answering these questions, the Academic Quality and Standards team then developed prototype data visualisation through curriculum conversations with academic staff. Where these enquiries were applicable more broadly this information would be brought into the standardised reporting for the benefit of the whole institution. At QUT an annual report to the executive committees allows all stakeholders to record the performance and outcomes of all courses in a snapshot in time or use this live report at any point during the year. This approach to learning analytics was awarded the Awarded 2014 ATEM/Campus Review Best Practice Awards in Tertiary Education Management for The Unipromo Award for Excellence in Information Technology Management.

Online teaching - the experience of a 'new' academic

A 'new' academic will share her fIrst experience of online teaching in a university environment. As an experienced user of computer technology this academic who is new to teaching in a university environment shared the experience of being 'new' to online teaching and learning with Masters level students. This paper explores the issues associated with online learning from the perspective of the 'teacher' as weIl as that of the 'learners'. The learners in this study participated in project-based learning experiences in an online unit taught by staff in the Faculty of Education. It will consider the issues that arose during the semester including the use of a new technology (new to the university) as well as the experience of participation in project-based learning in an online learning environment. The manner in which students dealt with the issues associated with this learning experience in an online environment will be presented.

Student expectations of teaching and learning

Higher education aims to develop students as life-long learners. Facilitative, learning-centred approaches are more likely to develop independent learners. However, these learning methods may challenge students’ conceptions of “good teaching” developed from their previous learning experiences. Student beliefs and expectations about teaching were examined through interviews of a small number of students as part of a wider study looking at developing techniques to assist students to become more aware, engaged and appreciative of their learning experience. The analysis of the interviews offer some useful suggestions for lecturers engaged in teaching professional disciplines wishing to use facilitative, student-centred teaching approaches.

Library learning space design : a good student fit

We are seeing a renewed interest nationally and internationally in the design and development of new learning environments. There is, at Deakin and more generally in the higher education sector, recognition that the students' experience of a flexible and supportive educational environment is central to excellent teaching and fosters student success. Recent Carrick Institute (now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council) grants have supported the need for a greater understanding of good practice, with workshops being held around the country.

The student experience is integral to planning the re-purposing of Library spaces at Deakin's two larger campuses, Waurn Ponds and Burwood. The physical spaces within the Library will be flexible and provide support for individual learning and study, group learning and discussion, with ubiquitous ICT access and assistance services readily accessible. The improvement to the amenities, including contemporary, wired casual spaces, will encourage students to come on to campus and stay, strengthening opportunities to build a learning community. This learning community can extend through opportunities for social networking to students studying online and off-campus.

Library services and spaces will align with the new pedagogical needs of the university, providing holistic support for students' flexible learning experiences.
"We know that space can have a significant impact on teaching and learning . . . What we know about how people learn has changed our ideas about learning space. There is value from bumping into someone and having a casual conversation. There is value from hands on, active learning as well as from discussion and reflection. There is value in being able to receive immediate support when needed and from being able to integrate multiple activities [and multiple information sources] to complete a project." (Diane Oblinger, Learning Spaces, EDUCAUSE, 2006).

Exploring creative music making as a vehicle for integrated teaching and learning

The arts have evolved with each society as a means of consolidating cultural and social identity and connecting past with future generations (Russell-Bowie, 2006, p3). Situating the arts within a broader interdisciplinary curriculum, we believe, allows students to discover and explore social issues and their relevance to students' contemporary lives. We argue that creative music making through composition promotes a deeper and more personally relevant teaching and learning experience for teacher education students, particularly when situated within an interdisciplinary framework.

The challenge for us as teacher educators' is to prepare pre-service teachers for both disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning as is required by the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). At Deakin University, in the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary/Secondary) Degree, the postgraduate unit called Humanities, Societies and Environments; Language and Music Education adopts an interdisciplinary pedagogy that encourages students to learn from each other, share content knowledge and make links between and across VELS domains.

In this paper we reflect on the possibilities exploring of creative music making to enhance the teaching and learning of social education, with particular reference to issues of environmental change. Specifically, we reflect on non-music specialist students' experiences in Semester 1, 2008 using Jeannie Baker's book Window (1991) as a platform to deliberate about the impact of urbanisation on the environment. Through dramatisation and a sonic environment students were able to both further conceptualise issues of social change and their understandings of the power of integrating music across other VELS domains.

Experience with practical project based learning in a developing undergraduate engineering degree program

The use of practical learning experience in undergraduate degree programs offers students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and receive feedback in a supportive environment before entering the workplace or undertaking further study. Traditional laboratory based instruction allows students this opportunity; however, it tends to provide limited opportunity for students to explore creative solutions to problem solving. The University of Waikato recently established undergraduate degree programs in engineering and has aimed to incorporate flexible learning opportunities for students, as part of their degree and as extra-curricular activities. This paper presents some of the practical project based opportunities that have been adopted and examines the role these have played in a developing engineering program.

Enriching student experience and inter-professional learning of inclusive design with Second Life

This position paper reflects rapid advances in immersive 2D and 3D eLearning technologies and the expanding pool of ideas and applications in higher education across two professions. Inspiration has been drawn from examples in design learning, and various multidisciplinary collaborative projects through developmental research in Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs). Linden Lab's Second Life (SL) is the most mature and popular of the ‘persistent’ virtual worlds. The study described in this paper aims to increase the authenticity of student learning through a range of SL simulated ‘life experiences’ relating to accessibility and mobility in the built environment. Significantly, the successes of such initiatives lie in several elements: teaching champions with vision and courage; detailed scripting of precise role-play encounters for first-time users to provide supportive ‘blended learning’ contexts; careful and vigilant strategic management of facilities and resources, and a robust design program. This paper focuses on the crucial alignment of these elements to the specific challenges of designing and navigating conception and development processes, to enable the execution and delivery of a tightly defined script for meaningful and memorable learning outcomes. This innovative pedagogical approach lacks time-tested outcomes, but is recognised equally as opportunity and challenge; risk and reward.

ASELL : the advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory project

Most science educators and researchers will agree that the laboratory experience ranks as a major factor that influences students’ attitudes to their science courses. Consequently, good laboratory programs should play a major role in influencing student learning and performance. The laboratory program can be pivotal in defining a student's experience in the sciences, and if done poorly, can be a major contributing factor in causing disengagement from the subject area. The challenge remains to provide students with laboratory activities that are relevant, engaging and offer effective learning opportunities.